By IANS
Jammu : The scion of Dogra royal family, Ajatshatru Singh, the son of senior Congress leader Karan Singh, Saturday rejoined the National Conference five years after he deserted the party.
Ajatshatru announced his decision at a press conference in Jammu in the presence of party patron and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah and National Conference president Omar Abdullah.
The grandson of last Dogra king of Jammu and Kashmir remained with the Congress for almost four years.
“It is home-coming for me,” Ajatshatru said.
He left the party in 2003 after his father Karan Singh rejoined the Congress.
The old animosity between the Dogra royal family and the National Conference – Sheikh Abdullah had launched “quit Kashmir” movement against Maharaja Hari Singh in Kashmir – had ended when Ajatshatru Singh joined the National Conference ahead of the 1996 assembly elections.
He won the polls from Nagrota constituency in 1996 and became a cabinet minister in the National Conference ministry of the state. But he lost the 2002 election from the same constituency.
His father Karan Singh was elected Rajya Sabha member with the National Conference support.
Welcoming him, Farooq Abdullah hoped Ajatshatru’s return would infuse a new life into the party.